Beauprez "Mexican Time" Comment Causes Uproar; DA Mitch Morrissey Not Happy

Congressman Bob Beauprez's comments yesterday about "Mexican time" ("I've vacationed in Mexico before. I know exactly what 'Mexican time' is." ) have gotten him into trouble.

UPDATE: We missed this follow-up quote from The Denver Post that is less potentially racist but much more patronizing. This isn't going well. "This case is pretty egregious," Beauprez said. "As any parent knows, you put your kid on an allowance, they break the rules of the house, you hold back some of the allowance." Double DOH!

In today's Rocky Mountain News, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey blasted Beauprez and other officials for making statements that he says are jeopardizing his efforts to extradite suspected cop killer Raul Gomez-Garcia:

In a letter to the state's U.S. senators and representatives, Morrissey said he had "serious concerns" that statements from unidentified "Washington politicians" were hurting efforts to bring back Raul Gomez-Garcia, who is being held in a Mexico City jail on suspicion of killing Denver police Detective Donald Young.

"Comments that appear disrespectful of Mexican law or appear to be attempts to pressure Mexican officials in some way are not helpful," Morrissey wrote. "Indeed, such comments may get in the way of the positive working relationship I am trying to establish as I prepare to formally request extradition for this defendant."

Several lawmakers have spoken on the case, and the letter did not refer to any specific comments, but it was released on the same day the Rocky Mountain News reported that Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Arvada, was preparing legislation that threatens to block $66 million in aid for Mexico because it will not extradite its citizens if they could face the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole.

Morrissey didn't appear to be directing his comments at Beauprez directly, but the Congressman's comments about "mexican time" were certainly the most inflammatory and controversial of any heard thus far by politicians (and Beauprez did try to use Morrissey as a talking point in his comments yesterday). Beauprez's spokesman did send out a partial apology, but it appears that the damage has been done...

The Morrissey letter capped a day of intense criticism aimed at Beauprez, who is considering a run for governor in 2006. In a Tuesday interview, he was asked about reports that it could take one to three years to decide Gomez-Garcia's extradition case. Beauprez told the News: "I've vacationed in Mexico before. I know exactly what 'Mexican time' is."

State Democrats seized on the comment, calling it an insensitive, ethnic slur. "Stereotypes and slurs don't represent Colorado values," said Rutt Bridges, a Democrat who is also considering the governor's race in 2006.

State Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Latin America, said: "If he (Beauprez) spent a little less time in vacation resorts and started looking at the communities that are struggling for survival down there, he might have a different attitude about foreign assistance that's being provided by the (U.S.) government."

The slain detective's wife, Kelly Young, said Wednesday she hoped the case would bring about needed changes in extradition procedures. When asked about Beauprez's rhetoric, she said: "Negativity could hurt this case. I'm trying to focus on the positive."

Wednesday afternoon, Beauprez apologized for part of his remarks in a brief statement issued by press secretary Jordan Stoick.

"The congressman regrets his poor choice of words and offers a sincere apology to anyone who was offended," Stoick said. "He will continue to fight to see that cop killers are not able to delay and avoid justice by fleeing the country. That is what he intended to convey in the interview and it is unfortunate that political opportunists would attempt to twist this -into something it clearly is not."

Offering an apology "to anyone who was offended" is really a backhanded apology. That's like saying, "I don't know why that bothered you, but it shouldn't have." As we talked about yesterday, the interpretation of Beauprez's comment is irrelevant, because it's far enough on the questionable end that opponents could seize upon it and use it against him. Beauprez was obviously hoping that a brief psuedo-apology would make it all go away. No such luck.

And now that such comments are causing trouble for Morrissey, and not making the Mexican Consul General happy, it makes them even worse.

Here's what Mexican Consul General Juan Marcos Gutierrez Gonzalez had to say:

"His case is not ruled by declarations in the press, but by the laws and international treaties in place," Gonzalez said. "Moreover, we don't see a conflict between the apprehension and prosecution of Mr. Gomez- Garcia. Up until now, we believe the cooperation between the United States and Mexico has been a story of success."

Still, Gonzalez said Beauprez's "Mexican time" quip was off-base. "I don't think (Beauprez) should call it 'Mexican time.' It's legal time," he said.

Political pundit Floyd Ciruli summed it up well:

Ciruli said there are major political ramifications for Beauprez in taking such a high-profile, outspoken role in the case. "It's a hot social issue, which is the sort of thing that's a wedge issue and can clearly separate candidates in a Republican primary" for governor, Ciruli said, referring to illegal immigration in general. "The downside is that you have to be careful with it," he said. "It's a polarizing issue, and if you get into a general election, our reputation here (in Colorado) is not to elect extremists statewide."

UPDATE: Columnist Mike Littwin also joined the fray today:

And so, Denver DA Mitch Morrissey didn't argue the point - because he didn't have to. If you want to put a suspected cop-killer away for life, you do what Morrissey did, even before he issued a carefully worded letter to our Washington delegation to please shut the hell up before they do serious damage.

UPDATE: Here's the Denver Post's take on the story, with Beauprez's explanation attempt:

But earlier, the Arvada Republican defended his "Mexican time" comment to The Denver Post, saying, "That term's used in Mexico all the time. It means 'Time to kick back, or take it easy.' This is not the time to kick back or take it easy."

Comments

[Phoenix Rising]

Ouch. Nice hit, Pat. Dems stepping up to the plate - who'da thunk?

This universal response is not good press for Beauprez; if he's smart, he'll just drop it, bill and all.

[Ed]

I'm surprised Beauprez would fumble something like this so badly. This can't help ...

[Colorado Time]

Maybe I'll just take my travelers checks to a competing resort

[demdog]

I found this quote astonishing, considering his earlier gaffe.... How utterly patronizing.

"As any parent knows, you put your kid on an allowance, they break the rules of the house, you hold back some of the allowance."
- Bob Beauprez

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2804469

[Todd]

Thanks for the post DemDog. I noticed that quote yesterday as well and was really bothered by it. It isn't like Mexico is a child that needs to be spanked by its parent, the US. The last time I checked, Mexico was a sovereign country and from my understanding of sovereignity they have the right to conduct the laws of their country and extradition processes however they wish to. Like Mexico, the US doesn't extradite its citizens to other countries to stand trial without imposing limitations on them.

Beauprez really dropped the ball here and I'll be interested to see what the fall out will be for him.

[Henry]

Let's take a step back before we get our knickers all knotted up. Bob Beauprez is not a racist and he is not Latino-phobic. I roomed with Bob at CU. I can tell you that every Saturday morning Bob was the first one out of bed so he could watch the Speedy Gonzalez Cartoonfest on Ch.4...EVERY Saturday. And one time he treated all of us to dinner at Taco Bell - right before he led the infamous panty raid on the Delta Chi house (unfortunately for Bob, the Delta Chi's are a fraternity, not a sorority and Bob got the snot beat out of him that night). But the point I want to make is that Bob understands our brown brothers to the south. He has empathy for them and their plight. As a banker he has never turned away a Mexican who wanted to give him their money. So back off. A year from now the streets, roads and highways of Colorado will be festooned with "Viva Bob" and "Amigos for Beauprez" yardsigns and bumperstickers. You can take it to the bank.

[Donald E. L. Johnson]

Seems to me that Morrissey is the one making a mistake, sending signals he doesn't want to offend the Mexican officials who are harboring a cop killer. Typical Dem. All appeasement all the the time. Gets you know where.

We all know what Mexican time is. We know what Summit County Time is and we know what Colorado and NY times are.

This is so ho hum.

[heavenly]

I can't say I really like Beauprez or any of the candidates for govenor. But should we really be looking at such a small silly comment as this one? I'm mexican and I didn't take is as a racist comment. They do move slower in Mexico but it's only because things aren't as uptight there as they are here in America. Work here runs our lives it's what we do.

I think more importantly we should look at the fact that he's trying to get this cop killer back to the U.S. where he can be properly punished for a crime he committed on U.S. soil. This is only my opinon. I don't see any other candidate talking about it, even to bash Beauprez. At least he's out there...mistakes or no mistakes. I'd prefer someone who takes action then just stands around and plays the political game.

[Todd]

Why is Morrissey making a mistake Donald? Is getting the man extradited to Colorado to stand trial here for allegedly killing a cop not good enough for you? If convicted, the accused shooter will go to jail for over 90 years and won't be eligible for probation for 72 of those making him over 90 by the time he COULD be free. That is effectively a life sentence AND it will allow Mexico, who doesn't extradite citizens to stand trial in death and life w/o possibility of parole cases, to follow their procedures and save face. Moreover, Morrissey contacted the victims before agreeing to the plan and they gave him the okay saying that it would be the best way to get the accused shooter back to Colorado. It seems like a win-win situation to me and we should be commending Ritter for his smart politics and condemning Beauprez for his inflammatory language. Let's hope Beauprez didn't destroy the deal.

[Alfalfa]

Todd - I think you meant Morrisey, not Ritter at the end of your post. Frankly, I'm glad Morrisey is in office handling this instead of Ritter!

To Heavenly's point about playing politics, isn't that exactly what Beauprez was doing with by getting involved in this in the first place? This was pure grandstanding on his part that, thanks to an unfortunate choice of word, has blown up in his face.

Bob Beauprez represents the 7th District - not Denver. The only reason he got on his high horse about the extradition and trying to do something in Congress is because he's running for governor. It's not action - it's politics, pure and simple.

And, when you make a blunder in politics, you should expect a political repsonse from your opponents. It's too bad that the Denver DA is in a position where he is trying to take action and has to deal with grandstanding members of Congress (from other Districts!).

[Ter Ducken]

A couple of points here:

If you are going to accuse Bridges of grandstanding, you damn sure need to accuse Beauprez of grandstanding. He's taking on an issue that isn't even in his district. What they both are doing is playing politics. I don't call it grandstanding in either case.

And Donald, to say that Morrissey is handling this wrong is just plain stupid. The Mexican Government flat-out said that they will not extradite Garcia if he seeks the death penalty or life without parole. What is he supposed to do? They're not going to change their laws just because we ask them to. If Morrissey seeks the death penalty, it would be beating his head against the wall. If I told you not to touch the stove because you'll get burned, and you touch the stove anyway, then it's your fault you got burned.

It's not appeasement when it is THE LAW. Besides, the families of the two cops agreed that they would rather Garcia go on trial here than in Mexico. I personally applaud Morrissey for respecting their wishes and doing everything in his power to compromise. He stacked the charges so Garcia is probably never getting out of prison anyway. But you'd rather we give the Mexican government the middle finger and lose the extradition, just to be tough about it? Sorry, I for one am glad Morrissey is the guy handling this, and not a politician doing it for political gain.

[Chris B]

A. Yes, Mexico is its own state and we should respect that. However, comma, when was the last time they respected US (err, our borders and procedures)? Let's see, we give them more jobs through NAFTA, we allow them to come and go without blinking, and they won't even return us a suspect? True neighbors don't treat eachother that way.

B. When I was down there on vacation, I heard numerous people tell me "this is Mexican time and all that". Tulsan's aren't offended by Tulsa-Time--I'm sure they could care less what our polititians say about them.

C. We need our Senator's and Rep's talking about this ALONG with our local officials. If we don't drive publicity on this, it will go away.

PS--for those of you that this mexican time comment offends, consider this; I'd rather be a Koran than a Bible..I'd get treated better anywhere in the world. Some of your perspectives are out of Whack!!

[pollyblog]

Speaking of offensive remarks by politicians, get a load of what our senior Senator had to say about illegal immigrants in a recent story from the Greeley Tribune:

Others say proposed immigration act is amnesty

Brady McCombs, (Bio) [email protected]
May 27, 2005

Wayne Allard doesn't hesitate to criticize the proposed legislation.

In fact, Sen. Allard, R-Colo., said the legislation would make Weld County more dangerous for his constituents. He said illegal immigrants bring prostitution and drug trafficking with them. About illegal immigrants, he said, "They're all the same bad characters.

"The more illegal immigration you have, the more crime you have," Allard said. "I think that just makes common sense. When they come illegally, they are criminals."

[jon]

Polly, please tell me that you aren't questioning whether or not aliens here illegally are criminals?

[Alfonso]

Am I angry? No not really, maybe at first, but my hard working Mexican-American parents taught their kids to accpet comments from people like Bob Beauprez. The hard part is hearing these ethnic slurs from a US Congressman. So to Bob I counter, he can kiss my Mexican behind anytime or is it Mexican time?

[Phoenix Rising]

"C. We need our Senator's and Rep's talking about this ALONG with our local officials. If we don't drive publicity on this, it will go away."

WHAT will go away?!? We're getting him back, on charges that will effectively put him away for life. What exactly is it that Beauprez is fighting for? Forcing Mexico to change its Constitution?

And, again, before we go forgiving Beauprez, let us consider his followup equating Mexico as a child of the U.S. - there is an increasingly obvious disconnect between the CO-7 Rep. and respect for Mexico. He should shut up and drop it before his foot slips further back down his throat.

[Unfortunate]

There is a problem with criminals fleeing to Mexico, especially recently. Beauprez is addressing something that does need attention. In fact Ken Salazar was addressing the issue last night in reference to the Jeff Garrett case. Of course Beauprez slipped and said something that could be construed as racist, but he was not trying to make a "racial slur." Historically we have had a problem with extraditing criminals in a timely manner if we are able to extradite them at all. If anyone commits a crime they should receive punishment whether they are American citizens or not. These incidents bring attention to one of the most important issues in America today; unfortunately we had to lose to of Colorado’s own to realize this.

[Phoenix Rising]

The problem I see is not so much that we can't extradite criminals back to this country; Morrissey's quick actions seem to put the lie to that. In my opinion, the major problem is that Mexico doesn't spend enough time hunting down the (dozen?) cop killers hiding out down there, or the hundreds(?) of other murderers. It's not that they're sitting in Mexican jails - most of them aren't even in custody. But I don't know enough about Mexico or its law enforcement to pass judgement. Government officials and law enforcement are widely portrayed as corrupt down there; does this play a role? I have no idea. Mexico's a big place, and far less developed than here.

But what to do about it? The Garrett case re-enforces the perception of one problem: our border is too hard to patrol, and criminals (both the murdering kind as well as the people-smuggling kind) cross almost freely. A wall is impractical and not cost-effective; the electronic frontier monitors aren't sufficient. This is an issue that is both real and complex; better ideas than those currently in circulation need to surface before we commit to a massive project.

[Unfortunate]

First of all thank you Phoenix. Ideas do need to surface but it seems as though everytime a new idea comes forward, whoever brings it forward is a racist. The Garrett case re-enforces an example to those who are in our country; go ahead and commit a crime and run to Mexico 9 times out of ten you won't be prosecuted. Us as citizens need to push for reform before it is too late.

[Jake]

Morrissey's quick concession to Mexico, and then his letter to Colorado delegation shows his weakness. So many of these posts pontificate about the sovereignty of Mexico, well what about the sovereignty of the United States. These individuals, whether it Gomez or the unnamed individual that shot Garrett, lived and worked in this sovereign nation. They committed their crimes in this sovereign nation, not Mexico.

They then fled to avoid prosecution for crimes the committed here! Granted, we signed a treaty with Mexico regarding the death penalty (not a policy decision I agree with, but still the law of the land). However, the Mexican government, through their court system then changed that treaty. It should now be fair game for criticism, it is not the deal that we signed on to.

I do not care how pleasant or unpleasant Mexican jails are; these criminals should face the consequences for their actions here, where they took place.

Beauprez is right on this one, we should be putting pressure on the Mexican government, because our sovereignty is what truly is at stake.

[Ter Ducken]

Morrissey is not a politician, he is a district attorney who deals with LAWS. The families of the cops wanted Garcia back here for trial, and he did what he had to do to make that happen. He's not in a position to negotiate international agreements. The law says that he couldn't get extradition if he sought the death penalty, so why would he seek the death penalty then? Why would you criticize a guy for acting within the laws that exist?

If he sought the death penalty, and they then refused extradition, what then, smart guy? Mexico has their laws, we have our laws. Our laws are not their laws, and all Morrissey can do is operate within the law. He did everything he could, and he did what the family's of the cops wanted. Morrissey shouldn't care what you wanted, and he shouldn't care what I wanted.

This has been brought up before, but I think it's a valid point. If an American woman who married a man in Saudi Arabia fled to the U.S. because she committed adultery, we wouldn't extradite her if she faced the death penalty for adultery. Our laws are more strict than Mexican laws, and some other countries have laws that are more strict than our laws. We don't rule the world, pal.

Morrissey acted within the laws that currently exist, and he ended up with charges that are going to be essentially a life sentence. That's a pretty damn good negotiation in my book.

[Jake]

Ter D. - come on, "Morrissey is not a politician," who are you kidding? He is an elected official, just like the Delegation, just with a different job to do.

What's next, Bill Ritter not a politician because he was DA? That is silly!

Morrissey conceded so early it was sad. And as I acknowledged in my earlier post, the death penalty was off the table. But his letter to the delegation is way off base and is simply for political gain.

Morrissey is elected to do a job, he should go and do it and not spend his time kissing the Mexican Government's backside. Our delegation has a job to do as well.

BB is well within his rights, and frankly, I think completely correct as a matter of policy, to put pressure on the Mexican government for their actions (or lake thereof). Morrissey has no business tell him or anyone else that they shouldn't comment.

What would your reaction be if Bush told Congress to shut up and not legislate because it might offend some other country? You would be on this blog howling and screaming about it!

As for the "mexican time" comment, it certainly wasn't the best choice of words, but I actually heard it when he said it and it wasn't malicious or racist in the least. Yet the multitude of so-called "progressives" on this blog have seized upon it (mostly because they are searching for some hope, any hope, for the Gov's race). Good luck with that one.

[Phoenix Rising]

The Mexican consul is backing Morrissey up on this one. If the government we're trying to work with is saying Beauprez is a problem, then Beauprez is a problem. Morrissey, being the person trying to get RG-G back, has every right to jump up and say "you're not helping here..." - it's screwing up his prosecution.

What more did you expect out of this process, Jake? If the death penalty was off the table, and life without parole was off the table, what more did you expect? We're getting him back for a 70+ year stay in our fine penitentiary system. What more did you want?!!!

And what lack of actions are you complaining about? The fact that it will take quite a while for Gomez-Garcia to run through legal proceedings? IT'S THE LAW. Or don't you really care about that?

[Phoenix Rising]

The Mexican consul is backing Morrissey up on this one. If the government we're trying to work with is saying Beauprez is a problem, then Beauprez is a problem. Morrissey, being the person trying to get RG-G back, has every right to jump up and say "you're not helping here..." - it's screwing up his prosecution.

What more did you expect out of this process, Jake? If the death penalty was off the table, and life without parole was off the table, what more did you expect? We're getting him back for a 70+ year stay in our fine penitentiary system. What more did you want?!!!

And what lack of actions are you complaining about? The fact that it will take quite a while for Gomez-Garcia to run through legal proceedings? IT'S THE LAW. Or don't you really care about that?

[b]

We are getting him back because it is a high profile case. What about all of the cases are not that high profile?